German Patent Publication No. DE 10 2007 063 316 A1 discloses a surge arrester.
In the interior of the surge arrester, an arc flashover between two or three electrodes occurs when a specific limit voltage, the ignition voltage, is exceeded. The limit voltage is designated as response DC voltage Urdc in the case of static or steady-state loading with a voltage rise of 100 V/s, and as response surge voltage urs in the case of dynamic loading with a voltage rise of 1 kV/μs. The arc is maintained by the feeding current as long as the electrical conditions for the arc exist.